Murder suspect arrested after 10-hour standoff in Augusta

AUGUSTA — A 10-hour standoff ended Tuesday with blasts of tear gas and the arrest of a man who police say murdered an Augusta resident.

Peter Bathgate, 30, of Augusta was charged in the slaying of Paul Allen, 47, whose body was found Sunday in Hallowell.

Additional Photos

State police confer outside an Augusta apartment building after Peter Bathgate was arrested Tuesday. He is charged with killing Paul Allen, 47, whose body was found Sunday in Hallowell. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Bathgate, who has no known criminal history in Maine, was to be held at the Kennebec County Jail. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 9 a.m. today in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Police declined Tuesday to specify why or how Allen was killed, and offered no details of the relationship between Bathgate and Allen.

“They did know each other,” said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Allen was found dead about noon Sunday near granite barricades separating Winthrop Street from a trail leading to granite quarries in Hallowell.

Game wardens had been searching for Allen since the previous day, when his truck was found abandoned on Town Farm Road, about a mile from where his body was discovered.

The state medical examiner said Monday that Allen’s death was a homicide. Police began searching for Bathgate a few hours later.

Authorities were in contact with Bathgate throughout Monday night and tracked him to a large apartment building at 37 Washington St., McCausland said.

Bathgate was hunkered down alone in a vacant fourth-floor apartment, McCausland said. Police declined to say whether Bathgate had access to a weapon.

Members of the Maine State Police Tactical Team surrounded the building, and a state police negotiator used an amplifier to talk to Bathgate in an effort to coax him out of the apartment.

“They talked to him for hours, off and on,” McCausland said. “Negotiations broke down. He wasn’t saying anything and the decision was made to use tear gas.”

Augusta police cleared the area, then tactical team members fired tear-gas canisters through windows on all sides of the apartment.

Moments later, about 11:30 a.m., Bathgate was taken into custody.

Police awakened residents in the eight-unit apartment building and neighboring buildings early Tuesday, warning them to leave. Those who were asked about Bathgate said no one had ever heard of him or seen him in their neighborhood.

Gary Sounier, who lives in the apartment building next to 37 Washington St., said he noticed police searching with dogs about 11 p.m. Monday. He initially believed they were looking for a burglary suspect.

“After we saw more cops show up, we knew something was definitely wrong,” he said.

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